{"id":1661,"date":"2015-08-27T10:46:43","date_gmt":"2015-08-27T10:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=1661"},"modified":"2015-08-28T11:10:03","modified_gmt":"2015-08-28T11:10:03","slug":"a-new-awakening-an-interview-with-nor-zartonks-sayat-tekir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=1661","title":{"rendered":"A New Awakening: An Interview with Nor Zartonk\u2019s Sayat Tekir"},"content":{"rendered":"

By NANORE BARSOUMIAN*
\nThe Armenian Weekly<\/em><\/p>\n

An Armenian Struggle Against Rights Abuses in Turkey<\/strong><\/p>\n

ISTANBUL, Turkey (A.W.)\u2014In late June, as the live-in demonstration to save Camp Armen, the former Armenian summer camp located in the Tuzla district of Istanbul, entered its 53rd day, Sayat Tekir, an Istanbul-based activist and member of the Armenian Nor Zartonk movement, gave an extensive interview to the Armenian Weekly, during which he discussed the challenges facing minorities in Turkey, the establishment and mission of Nor Zartonk, and recent tragedies, including the murders of Hrant Dink and Sevan Balikci and the attacks against elderly Armenian women in Samatya, Istanbul.<\/p>\n

\"Nor<\/a>
Nor Zartonk\u2019s Sayat Tekir (Photo: Nanore Barsoumian)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Speaking about the atmosphere of fear that has dictated the life of the Armenian community in Turkey, Tekir related some personal stories, and explained, \u201cEven my own name is the result of that fear. [My parents] named me Sayat, when they actually wanted to name me Ararat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tekir spoke about the Islamized\/Hidden Armenians, and their return to the community. To those who oppose embracing the returnees, he said, \u201cWe can\u2019t have bodyguards guarding the gates of the community. Anyone can be a part of the community. And they must, because they will reinvigorate us. They will bring us a different knowledge. This is important. I say these things as an Armenian.\u201d<\/p>\n

The activist offered an intimate look at the Camp Armen movement, which began soon after bulldozers arrived<\/a> at the camp to demolish it in early May. Around 1,500 children\u2014many of whom were orphans\u2014once called the camp home, including the late Hrant Dink. In 1987, the state seized the camp from the Gedikpasha Armenian Protestant Church Foundation. Tekir highlighted the significance of the struggle to save the camp, and the support it has garnered from the general public. After making an appeal for diasporan support, he added, \u201cThe Armenian question was \u2018solved\u2019 here 100 years ago. [Camp Armen] is our dignity on the line. Enough is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tekir explained how the confiscation of the camp\u2014or any similar Armenian property\u2014was not simply a matter of land or property rights but an assault on a people\u2019s identity, as revenue from the rent or use of such properties would have supported the community in areas of education and healthcare. Without these properties, he said, both the identity and physical wellbeing of a community suffers.<\/p>\n

Weeks after this interview was conducted, on Aug. 13, on the 100th day of the live-in<\/a> demonstration to save Camp Armen, a group of assailants attacked<\/a> the camp around midnight, and beat two activists with sticks. The remaining activists have continued their live-in demonstration, waiting for the current title owner, Fatih Ulusoy, to fulfill his promise<\/a> to transfer the deed back to the Gedikpasha Armenian Evangelical Church Foundation.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Nanore Barsoumian\u2014Tell me about Nor Zartonk. What types of initiatives are you engaged in? What\u2019s your mission?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sayat Tekir\u2014In 2004, Nor Zartonk was founded initially as an e-mail list that brought together Armenian youth, mainly as a discussion platform. But in 2005, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, we organized panel discussions together with Hrant Dink. We did something similar in 2006. We wanted to enliven Nor Zartonk after 2005. Unfortunately, back then, we lacked the engine, or the motor, to propel us forward\u2026 And, sadly, Hrant Dink\u2019s assassination [on Jan. 19, 2007] became that engine. So we made it our mission to strengthen Nor Zartonk and to talk about the rights of Armenians in Turkey.<\/p>\n

We had talked with Hrant Dink about putting this type of initiative into motion. We were few in numbers back then, and we weren\u2019t able to come together with Hrant Dink, and after he was assassinated, that became one of our messages\u2014the issue of democracy, and the issue of individual and community [rights]. This is why we are committing our lives to this. It is important for us.<\/p>\n

For the Armenians of Turkey, a boundary has been drawn\u2014100 years ago, from the Lausanne Treaty, etc.\u2014that limits the rights of minorities. Our people have been forced to remain within these boundaries. There was the genocide, but there have also been other injustices since the birth of the republic, from unfair taxes, unjust laws, massacres, and pogroms\u2014and those have just been added to the memory of the genocide. For us, the assassination of Hrant Dink reaffirmed the fact that these injustices continue. Our collective memory of the genocide was revived with Dink\u2019s murder\u2014and later, the murders of Sevag Balikci<\/a> and Maritsa Kucuk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There is an atmosphere of fear. Let me highlight one point: I understand this fear, I\u2019m also fearful. Being afraid is one thing, but being a slave to your fears is another matter. I understand, but we cannot live with this fear any longer, and as Nor Zartonk, we want to get past these boundaries. In the 100 years since the genocide, there have been many changes around the world regarding minority treatment and democratic rule. This shirt that we have been forced to wear\u2014so to speak\u2014does not fit us anymore\u2026not since Dink\u2019s murder. In the past, there were times that mothers would tell their children not to call them \u2018mayrig\u2019 (mother, in Armenian) in public. In the diaspora, people might have thought that the Armenians in Turkey are being Turkified, that our values had changed, that we had not retained our identity. However, one has to realize that this was a way for [Turkey\u2019s Armenians] to survive. If you in America or elsewhere had to see your most popular newspapers bear the headlines \u2018Armenian Dogs\u2019 or \u2018Armenian Traitors\u2019 every day, you\u2019d also experience that fear.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll tell you a personal story. [Turkish President] Recep Tayyip Erdogan was offended for being called an Armenian, and even demanded an apology. We reacted by organizing a demonstration in front of the Agos offices, and many Armenians came. Of course, our demonstrations are organized with the participation of other peoples\u2014you couldn\u2019t pull it off with just Armenians anyway since our number is so small. I read the message intended for the media. When I went home and told my mother of the day\u2019s events (leaving out the part about me reading our statement), she told me, \u2018I hope you stayed in the back of the demonstration.\u2019 I said, \u2018What do you mean by the back of the demonstration? I was one of the organizers!\u2019 So, you see, for us, even when engaged to this degree, the fear is there\u2026<\/p>\n

N.B.\u2014You\u2019ve been living with that fear for 100 years. You\u2019ve felt the knife reach your bone\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Nor<\/a>
Nor Zartonk posters featured portraits of Komitas and Hrant Dink declare, \u201cWe Are Here!\u201d (Photo: Nanore Barsoumian)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

S.T.\u2014It\u2019s exactly like that. Even my own name is the result of that fear. They named me Sayat, when they actually wanted to name me Ararat. They thought when I would be drafted in the army, the name Ararat would easily give away my Armenian identity, so they went with Sayat, which sounds similar to some Turkish names. Neither my father nor my godfather are paranoid individuals, but they have experienced these things, they have lived through discrimination in the army. I was conscripted. Sevag Balikci was also conscripted around the same time. He was murdered [on April 24, 2011]. That is the reality. And Sevag also had a Turkish name: Sevag Shahin Balikci. They would call him Shahin\u2014and he was still murdered.<\/p>\n

Of course, the government tries not to have serious problems with the community, but we\u2019re not living in a rosy country\u2014there are right-leaning and fascist groups that are able to resort to violence. And because there is a huge issue of justice in the country, those who kill Armenians walk with no punishment. The man who killed Hrant is in jail, but the people and organization behind him are free to walk. The man who killed Sevag Balikci also walks free. They walk on the same streets as us. This creates a certain emotional state for our community members\u2014you can come across one of the killers on the streets. In the case of Maritsa Kucuk\u2019s murder, the trial continues and we are following it\u2014that\u2019s part of what Nor Zartonk does. We follow these cases, how the media is reporting them, what the public thinks about them.<\/p>\n

N.B.\u2014You want to raise these issues in the media\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

S.T.\u2014Yes, and that is why we are also a member of HDP [the pro-Kurdish People\u2019s Democratic Party]. We try to engage politicians from HDP, invite them to our events, because they also have some draw on the media, so that the wider public gets interested in these issues, so that there is some pressure on the courts.<\/p>\n

What happened to the Maritsa Kucuk case is that they investigated for two months, and they came back with an Armenian name. They said he did it\u2014he\u2019s someone who abuses drugs. They claim that he was there. Perhaps he is one of the murderers. But we found two other DNA [samples] there. We found them\u2014not the police.<\/p>\n

N.B.\u2014Nor Zartonk hired its own investigators?<\/strong><\/p>\n

S.T.\u2014Together with the Human Rights Association of Turkey, we carried out an investigation and found this sort of evidence. Their lawyers, like Eren Keskin, were instrumental. So despite these pieces of evidence, when you ask what happened, the response is, an Armenian killed another Armenian, nothing more. But around the same time, there were other cases as well. For instance, three individuals tried to kidnap an elderly Armenian woman\u2014not one, but three [assailants]. Rocks were thrown at the church. An elderly Armenian woman was beaten, and she lost an eye. The man arrested for Kucuk\u2019s murder said he drew a cross on her chest. The police said he was in shock and mentally unstable. Until today, not a single photograph of the victim\u2019s body has been released. They didn\u2019t even provide the family with one. So after the man\u2019s conviction, the media dropped the case\u2026<\/p>\n

Welcome to Turkey!<\/p>\n

So what are we doing? First, we deal with issues like the ones I mentioned. We have one message to the Armenian community in Turkey: You are not alone. You are not alone. Because if you come and see, the community is fragmented. They\u2019re all in a corner, alone. So we are telling them, you are not alone.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another story. Eva Aksoy opened a court case because her neighbor sent her a message saying, \u2018Our country seems small for you, why don\u2019t you move to Yerevan?\u2019 The incident started when, after an anti-Armenian meeting organized around Khojaly, participants made signs that read, \u2018Don\u2019t believe Armenian lies.\u2019 After that, the neighbor threw the message in Eva Aksoy\u2019s yard. Now, almost anyone else would have kept quiet, may be shaking their heads. I guarantee you, 99 percent of the community would not have reacted the way she did: She took the neighbor to court for hate speech. The court case went on for over two years, and the outcome was that the court told the man not to do it again. I remember the last court hearing. Fifty of us went, Eva Aksoy sat at the center\u2026 The plaintiff was an older man. He ended up feeling like his blood pressure was rising, so he got up and left before the trial. So the trial ended without a punishment. But what happened\u2014we said that this woman is not alone. Now, when the man sees Eva walking down the street, he changes his path.<\/p>\n

N.B.\u2014Do you mean there is a restraining order against him?<\/strong><\/p>\n

S.T.\u2014No, nothing with the law. Just that he changes his route when he sees us. There are 50 of us with our eyes on him\u2026 Not everyone is short like me. [Laughs] So we do these sorts of things.<\/p>\n

We also have a radio station called \u2018Nor [New] Radio.\u2019 We founded it on Jan. 17, 2009\u2014so we\u2019ve had it for 6.5 years. You can find it online at www.norradyo.com<\/a>. We have broadcasted programs in 15 languages\u2014languages that belong to minorities in Turkey. We have programs in Western and Eastern Armenian, as well as Hamshen Armenian. We don\u2019t just discuss minority issues, we also talk about women\u2019s rights issues, environmental issues, workers\u2019 rights, social rights, LGBT rights, we even talk about animal rights\u2014essentially the views of Nor Zartonk. We collaborate with Assyrians, Circassians; they come to our demonstrations, we go to theirs. Of course, we are Armenian, we come from Armenians, but we need to stand in solidarity with peoples who have similar pains as us, and who are oppressed like us. If we are going to change the system\u2014this is how we\u2019re going to change it.<\/p>\n

Nor Radio also came about this way. Yes, the name is Armenian, the initial broadcasts were in Armenian, the workers are Armenian, but then what? We thought, this isn\u2019t going to express our views well, because there are many others like us who are victims of hate speech, hate crimes, and discrimination. Let\u2019s not just talk about our struggle, let\u2019s talk about all these peoples\u2019 struggles, and let\u2019s have a stronger message.<\/p>\n

We have an Armenian Cultural and Solidarity Union that focuses more on cultural issues, especially the threat of losing the Western Armenian language. For instance, we offer a language course. We founded this in 2010. We have more than 50 graduates of the course; most are not Armenian but can speak Armenian fairly well. Some of them are academics\u2014one is a Jewish man who has written two books about the Armenian Genocide in Turkish. There are others whose spouses are Armenian. There are also Islamized Armenians who want to learn about their culture. Sometimes we show Armenian movies\u2014it might not be a huge deal for you, but for us in Istanbul it is significant. [Laughs] We publish books on topics of discrimination against minorities in Turkish textbooks, the Armenian Genocide\u2014three books so far. We\u2019re now working on an Armenian song book [yerkaran]. We have a library with books on the genocide, history, culture, so that if someone is doing research on an Armenian subject, they can come and do research at our office. Often, the doors of our [community] organizations are closed here to the general public, but we keep our doors always open. There are prejudices here, and to counter that we need to express ourselves. Come and see us\u2014we have our books which cover a wide spectrum of views. Come, let\u2019s talk! Our doors are open. Let\u2019s talk if you think there\u2019s a problem. We have a little of a mission of that kind, too.<\/p>\n

We cover our own expenses from our member contributions. The way things work in Istanbul is more like 1 person donates $1,000\u2014but we\u2019d rather 1,000 people donate $1. That would make us feel like we have the people behind us. We have had some success in the past 10 years. In some areas we have succeeded, in others we have not.<\/p>\n

Now at Camp Armen, we\u2019re having some success. The issue is no longer about getting back or losing Camp Armen, because there\u2019s now an understanding among the peoples in Turkey that many properties have been taken away from us, from minorities.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re talking about Camp Armen\u2014there\u2019s this activism\u2014but Camp Armen has been closed for 30 years. Today, the Bomonti Mkhitarian School, which currently has 40 students, can be taken away from us. We\u2019re also struggling against that. We want it to be resolved through legal means so that it becomes an example and sets a precedent. There are hundreds of such property cases. Why are these properties important to us? It\u2019s not like we\u2019re going to profit from them. But these properties were taken away from us in the 70\u2019s. Why the 70\u2019s? Because the Cyprus issue\u2014between Greece and Turkey\u2014resulted in properties being confiscated from minorities in Turkey. The rent the community receives from these properties went to support the Armenian schools, churches, and hospitals. What\u2019s the meaning of all that? If I\u2019m going to retain my identity, I need to go to school\u2014and if schools can\u2019t be financed and get shut down, then I can\u2019t go on holding on to my identity.<\/p>\n

In other words, the confiscation of this property is in essence a stab at our identity. If you are poor and sick, with no insurance, you need to go to the hospital to get care; and similarly, if you are a poor student, you need scholarship for school. These are also the types of things that are affected through the confiscation of our properties. So taking these properties from us also means taking our identity from us. It\u2019s not a small matter\u2014it\u2019s not only an issue of property, but also identity.<\/p>\n

N.B.\u2014You already addressed some of the questions I had for you, such as the significance of Camp Armen for the Istanbul Armenian community\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

S.T.\u2014I can\u2019t just give one answer, because for some, it has no significance. For some, Armenianness has no meaning, but that\u2019s another matter. For others, though, it\u2019s very important. Some people have gone to that camp and studied there\u2014and they, along with their families, keep coming to the camp. There are also many others who have not studied at the camp but who are nonetheless coming to the camp every week. For instance, older community members come and prepare dolma for us, others bring us bottles of water.<\/p>\n

N.B.\u2014You mean, they are visiting Camp Armen\u2026 Can you describe the atmosphere there for us?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Nor<\/a>
Nor Zartonk activists\u2014together with others struggling for human rights in Turkey\u2014organized a march in Istanbul on June 26, demanding the return of the camp. At the close of the demonstration, HDP’s Armenian MP, Garo Paylan, addressed the crowd. (Photo: Nanore Barsoumian)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

S.T.\u2014We have created a community at Camp Armen. People come from all over Turkey\u2014not just Armenians, but also Turks, Kurds, Alevis, Laz people, and others\u2014to support us in various ways, whether financial or moral. Someone might bring us water, and even that is something.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example: The electricity was out, so electricians from Tuzla came and they fixed it for us without payment. The first day, we had no electricity, and a neighbor ended up giving us electricity. Imagine, there is an Armenian camp here and the Turkish neighbor is providing the electricity. There are many in the neighborhood who help us, including members of the Kemalist party [CHP] as well as the HDP. We\u2019re working together. We have a garden and we\u2019re planting vegetables there. We have great strawberries. [Laughs] This is a camp in its true sense. People give us what they can.<\/p>\n

As for us, we are there day and night. We don\u2019t really sleep much at night for safety reasons. But all this is also important for another reason: We held a protest yesterday where 1,000 people showed up, and we made a statement there. On April 24, Erdogan asked, where is the proof of genocide? We said, in response to him, that the proof of the genocide is Hrant\u2019s [Dink] camp, the camp that was taken away from us.<\/p>\n

If in Turkey you want to build a memorial or a monument to the genocide, don\u2019t construct one because one already exists\u2014and that\u2019s the camp. And I say this because today the camp is in partial ruins. One third of it is in ruins, another part is still standing, and it is a space where Armenians, both young and old, are congregating. That\u2019s the monument!<\/p>\n

And all different peoples, for instance Jews, have come along with their children or parents, and we get together, we host acting or painting classes, and we\u2019re still holding camp for the children. For the adults, we\u2019re holding lectures about the Armenians and other peoples, like the massacres perpetrated against the Alevis (we held a panel about it today) or about the Jews. We don\u2019t just discuss Armenian issues. We also show movies. We have discussions with Islamized Armenians. We host musicians of various backgrounds, who sing in different languages\u2014Kurdish, Armenian, Turkish. Kurds will come, and they\u2019ll dance shurchbar [traditional circle dance] to Armenian music. This is also important in the larger sense, that people are coming together, that we are not just enemies.<\/p>\n

Yes, we have enemies, we receive threats, there is danger, but all that aside, we also have people who support us. We have a man who prepares beoreg [cheese turnovers] at his home and brings half of what he makes to the camp for us. If our neighbors didn\u2019t help us, we wouldn\u2019t have been able to stay here until today\u2014that is the truth.<\/p>\n

N.B.\u2014How many people camp out there every night?<\/strong><\/p>\n

S.T.\u2014It varies. During the week, at least 20 people will be there. On the weekends, around 50 people will come to the camp. It changes, but I\u2019m talking about those who spend the night there. During the day, towards the end of the week, around 1,000 people come and go. New people come. The camp is close to Izmit, so we get visitors from there too. Very few come from the diaspora. Everyone is helping out, but\u2014and this is a small criticism\u2014there isn\u2019t much help from the diaspora.<\/p>\n

N.B.\u2014Can you tell us how the diaspora can help your struggle?<\/strong><\/p>\n

S.T.\u2014You know, even one bottle of water is important to us, because we\u2019re living there. I\u2019m not going to say donate to our cause. We don\u2019t need thousands of liras, but we\u2019ll appreciate that one bottle of water just as much. We\u2019d be happy to receive it. That\u2019s all I\u2019m saying. We\u2019re not in Syria, we\u2019re fine, our situation is good. You understand what I mean?<\/p>\n

N.B.\u2014Yes, moral support. You want the diaspora to help keep your morale up.<\/strong><\/p>\n

S.T.\u2014Yes, in some sense. We need the support. We\u2019re not tied to any party. We\u2019re an independent organization, but our historical political parties are our political parties, whichever party that may be. It would be good if they can put some pressure. They have lawyers, connections\u2014whether in Europe or in the U.S. Let them exert a little pressure. Let them talk about it some more. What if they were to bring it up in the European Court [of Human Rights]? Let\u2019s think about it. It\u2019s not much.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re organizing here. We hold protests. We\u2019re organizing a struggle\u2014and we\u2019re fine with that. But if we had a little help, it would be better.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re waging this struggle in an orphanage, and we hope Armenians the world over can stand by our side so that we don\u2019t feel like orphans ourselves. We are trying to get the word out in Armenian, English, and Turkish. And I want to thank all the organizations that have supported us so far\u2014like your newspaper and others, those who visit us at camp.<\/p>\n

Youth from the ARF [Armenian Revolutionary Federation] have been showing us support. Some have sent us videos expressing solidarity. We hope that community leaders\u2014wherever they may be\u2014speak about Camp Armen in their host countries, raise the issue in those governments.<\/p>\n

We have 40,000 people here in our community. But not all are interested in Armenian issues. Our voice has remained low. The Armenian Question was \u2018solved\u2019 here 100 years ago. This is our dignity on the line. Enough is enough.<\/p>\n

Like I said, if it wasn\u2019t for all the support, we wouldn\u2019t be here. But it isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

We have one demand: the return of Camp Armen to our people, to the Armenian Protestant church. We don\u2019t care whether it belongs to the Protestants, the Orthodox, or the Catholics\u2014just that it belongs to our people. This will also open doors for others, like the Greeks and Jews. This is why it\u2019s important.<\/p>\n

N.B.\u2014How and when do you expect this to be resolved?<\/strong><\/p>\n

S.T.\u2014We\u2019re going to camp there all summer, and we expect the youth from all over the world, both Armenians and others, to come there.<\/p>\n

N.B.\u2014You\u2019re inviting them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

S.T.\u2014Yes. Just like Hayastantsiner [Armenians in Armenia] say \u201cari\u201d [come], we say\u2026\u2019ari, yegek Camp Armen!\u2019 [Come to Camp Armen]. Let\u2019s turn it into a pan-Armenian camp, and let\u2019s discuss issues that affect Armenians the world over.<\/p>\n

N.B.\u2014You talked about the Istanbul Armenian community and the challenges they are facing. Can you discuss the situation of the hidden Armenians?<\/strong><\/p>\n

S.T.\u2014They are going to reinvigorate our community\u2014if our community accepts them. Unfortunately, there\u2019s that issue too. We are born from Armenian mothers and fathers, we are Baptized, we go to Armenian school, we learn Armenian, our identity cards identify us as Christians, etc. We were born into it\u2014we don\u2019t think too much about it. But for them, there\u2019s the issue of an identity that has been taken away from them. You should see how they are clinging to that identity! They\u2019re trying to learn the Armenian language, the customs, the culture, the cuisine, and the traditions. And some in the community are opposing them, saying no, you can\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n

But we can\u2019t have bodyguards guarding the gates of the community. Anyone can be a part of the community. And they must, because they will reinvigorate us. They will bring us a different knowledge. This is important. I say these things as an Armenian. I\u2019m seeing how they are embracing the Armenian identity\u2026<\/p>\n

For the first time, Dersim Armenians will partake in the Pan-Armenian Games [in Yerevan]. I joined the organization and I will go with them. There are those who do not speak a word of Armenian\u2014or they might know one word. And some of them are fearful of whether their behavior is acceptable\u2026<\/p>\n

N.B.\u2014Whether they will be rejected\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

S.T.\u2014But they still want to go [to Armenia] because it\u2019s the motherland, just like Dersim is also the motherland. They want to go, see, and find their identity. This is significant. There are those who were assimilated, who are struggling against assimilation\u2014just like us. And there are those who were not born as Armenians but who want to struggle to re-emerge as Armenians.<\/p>\n

I know from Camp Armen\u2026there is a man, a Tuzla resident, who was formerly a member of the Nationalist Movement Party [MHP], a member of a fascist organization, who discovered he was Armenian a year ago, and left the party. He found out his roots go back to Adana and Cilicia. He is at the camp now almost every night. He didn\u2019t come to the camp because he lives in Tuzla, or is a neighbor; he came because he is Armenian. He\u2019s there because of his identity. And this is someone who a year ago was a member of a fascist organization, and he most likely used to also curse Armenians. He\u2019s curious about what we eat, what we\u2019re like, what traditions we have. This is significant. We need to embrace them. That\u2019s partly why we hold Armenian-language classes. We don\u2019t have a gauge that measures someone\u2019s Armenianness.<\/p>\n

N.B.\u2014If they feel Armenian, they are Armenian. Period.<\/strong><\/p>\n

S.T.\u2014They have lived and continue to live in the reality of the genocide. They have lived through discrimination. Let\u2019s not forget that. They have lived through it. They have lived in an atmosphere of hatred. They have attempted to live. Now, some of them get Baptized. Some are atheists, but they say they are Armenian. We have a friend who was Baptized, and now he writes books about language\u2014he writes in Turkish, Armenian, and in the Hemshin language using Latin characters. He\u2019s giving so much more than many Christian Armenians, and as you know there are those in Hemshin who don\u2019t accept that they are Armenian, and get insulted if you suggest it. Some are fearful, and others are victims of the ideological propaganda that was waged there. For 100 years, we have learned that there was a genocide. For 100 years they have been taught that there was no genocide. That\u2019s also why genocide recognition is not a simple issue.<\/p>\n

*Nanore Barsoumian is the editor of the Armenian Weekly. Her writings focus on human rights, politics, poverty, environmental and gender issues. She has reported from Armenia, Nagorno Karabagh, Javakhk, and Turkey. She earned her B.A. degree in Political Science and English from the University of Massachusetts (Boston). Email Nanore Barsoumian at writenanore@gmail.com, or follow her on Twitter (@NanoreB).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By NANORE BARSOUMIAN* The Armenian Weekly An Armenian Struggle Against Rights Abuses in Turkey ISTANBUL, Turkey (A.W.)\u2014In late June, as the live-in demonstration to save [more >>>]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1662,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-turkey","category-turkey-minority-rights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1665,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1661\/revisions\/1665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}